+34Mike Flanagan's new Carrie adaptation for Amazon Prime Video stars Summer H. Howell as Carrie White after more than 1400 auditions, with a reinvented Margaret White and Chris Hargensen. Stephen King approved the series, which updates the story for today's teenagers.
Mike Flanagan's new adaptation of Stephen King's Carrie will stream on Amazon Prime Video, with Summer H. Howell starring as Carrie White. More than 1400 people auditioned for the role, making it the biggest casting effort of Flanagan's career to date.
Howell Won the Carrie Role
Howell was offered the part on April Fools' Day. The 22-year-old Canadian actor said her reaction was a mix of shock, honour and intimidation. I was just like, What's happening? What a funny joke that would be, she said.
I always assume with big projects that you're up against a lot of people. But I just put it out of mind and did my own thing. Howell missed her high school dance, or grad as Canadians call it, because she was working. She found a second chance while filming Carrie.
I had a wonderful prom, she said. It feels like one big fever dream. I had about 11 days covered in blood, head to toe. I did a lot of relying on other people and sitting, trying not to mess up my continuity.
It was really cool to get to experience it in a way. The Black Prom is one of the most famous sequences in horror history. It began with King's 1974 debut novel, which introduced the image of Carrie doused in pigs' blood after a cruel prank. The story follows an outcast teen bullied by schoolmates and a fanatically religious mother before she unleashes her telekinetic powers in a fit of destruction.
Carrie's Black Prom Legacy
The scene has been recreated many times, including Brian De Palma's 1976 film with Sissy Spacek and the 2013 movie with Chloë Grace Moretz. When Amazon Prime Video pitched the idea of adapting Carrie for television, Flanagan's first instinct was to turn it down. He generally avoids remakes and sequels, preferring fresh source material. He said, I think it's been done, Flanagan recalls.
And I said I think I agree. The filmmaker would not proceed without King's stamp of approval. But an idea kept niggling at him. I couldn't stop thinking about it, Flanagan says.
It's been half a century since Stephen King created that character and that story in that world, but so much of what he was talking about is more relevant today than it was when he wrote it. Teenagers today deal with cruelty and anxiety to a degree Steve never could have contemplated 50 years ago, Flanagan says. That I couldn't contemplate when I was growing up. I never went to school afraid I could be killed there.
When Flanagan had his own Carrie moments, they stayed largely private. His most vulnerable, humiliating and defining moments were not preserved digitally forever, in full view on the internet. Flanagan, known for emotional, character-driven horror like Oculus, came up with what he calls the anti-Carrie. While De Palma's lead character was traumatised from the start, Flanagan's is more of an unspoiled heart.
A Kinder Carrie White
We created a character who came into the world with trust, eagerness and openness, with a fearlessness socially and a genuine belief in the goodness of the environment around her, he says. She then reacts to the realities we've all normalised in society for teenagers. This approach was enough to convince Stephen King, who serves as an executive producer. Flanagan searched for someone who embodied an earnest curiosity without being naive, and a vulnerability paired with hidden strength.
He had no idea how they would find his perfect Carrie White, then Summer H. Howell appeared. Carrie is not the only character to undergo a refresh. Adopting a more YA slant, the series offers a glimpse into the home life of other key characters, including Carrie's mother Margaret White, famously played by Piper Laurie in 1976. Here she is played by Samantha Sloyan and is no longer a monster.
Rather, she is a product of her own abuse. Where Sam takes it is so heartbreaking, so beautiful and so human, Flanagan says. The late season scenes between her and Summer are some of my favourite I've ever witnessed on a set of mine in my life. I'm very interested in the cyclical nature of abuse and trauma, and the self-sustaining nature of that.
Exploring Carrie's School Bullies
Carrie's main bully, Chris Hargensen, played by Alison Thornton, is given similar treatment. She is not just a mean girl monster. She is reacting to her own deep well of pain, largely caused by her parents' divorce, with her mother played by Heather Graham, and money issues. This drives her poor choices, such as filming Carrie sobbing in the school showers after her first period.
Instead of helping, Hargensen chants plug it up and shares the footage on an anonymous account online, turning Carrie into the school's laughingstock. There really are no monsters in frame, at least not in the beginning, Flanagan says. And if we ever meet a monster, we get to see how they're made. As horrific as these scenes sound, they are not far from the experience of many contemporary US teens.
Flanagan opened his writers' room to actual high schoolers to hear their lived experience of bullying, gun violence and social media. Demonstrating the human side of horror is signature Flanagan, and it is also something he picked up from King.
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theage:This story was compiled and edited by the HeadTopics newsroom and HT AI from the reports above.
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